[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Page 15354]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      THIRTY-SECOND ANNIVERSARY OF THE TURKISH INVASION OF CYPRUS

  Mr. REED. Mr. President, today, on behalf of the Greek Cypriot 
population of Rhode Island, and Greek Cypriots around the world, I 
recognize the 32nd anniversary of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.
  Shortly before dawn 32 years ago today, heavily armed Turkish troops 
landed on the northern coast of Cyprus launching the invasion and 
subsequent occupation of Northern Cyprus. Over the next 2 months, over 
200,000 Greek Cypriots, an overwhelming 82 percent of the island's 
population, were forced to seek refuge in the southern Greek controlled 
portions of Cyprus. Turkey eventually called a ceasefire after seizing 
37 percent of the island. To this day Turkey is the only country that 
recognizes the self-declared ``Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.''
  Over the last 30 years, the United Nations Security Council and 
General Assembly have striven to resolve this ongoing territorial 
dispute through multiple failed peace talks and resolutions. While many 
years and much thought has gone into determining an equally agreeable 
solution, talks between the Greek Cypriot south and the Turkish Cypriot 
north constantly end in a stalemate.
  However, hope was renewed this month when the United Nations began 
drafting recommendations on reviving stalled peace talks between this 
war-divided island's Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities. 
Furthermore, Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos and Turkish Cypriot 
leader Mehmet Ali Talat were hailed by the Cyprus Parliament Speaker 
Demetris Christofias as taking positive steps toward restarting the 
Cyprus peace talks.
  We must applaud the continued efforts of the United Nations and the 
renewed focus of the Cypriot leaders to reunite a divided Cyprus and 
remain committed to ushering the settlement process forward. Cypriot, 
Mediterranean, and U.S. interests will benefit from a settlement that 
addresses all legitimate concerns of both sides and promotes the 
stability of a hostile region.
  Much like the Greek proverb, ``learn to walk before you run,'' 
Cypriot leaders must take small steady steps forward and continue 
forward even when the road looks unpaved. There is a path that leads to 
the reunification and peace between these two communities. Traversing 
this path, however, will take patience and tolerance.

                          ____________________